For a team like the Leafs, training camp is often an exercise in, well, exercise. There aren't a lot of open jobs and not a lot of questions to answer. The Leafs are in a fairly unusual situation this year with an excess of players, both at forward and defence, and some expectation that the list will get longer before it gets shorter if some PTOs are announced. There are a lot of decisions to be made, but not many important ones.

I Don't Care About Goalies

First up, the thing I really don't care about is indeed goalies. This is generally true for training camp. Single or part-game performances with who knows what bunch of thrown together skaters in front of them are not instructive.

This year the Leafs have zero question about their goalie pecking order, and it's all set up for Dennis Hildeby to go to the AHL where he will have an AHL veteran to share the crease with, and anyone else is, frankly, playing out their contracts before they go to Europe/gets tossed into a trade for a team that needs an AHLer.

Defender Job Openings

There aren't any. Okay, in theory there is a bit of a contest for the pressbox seat, but the defender pairings are:

Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit - Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Just because I think Benoit performed very poorly last year most of the time, doesn't mean he's automatically back in a pool of guys in open audition for a job. It's still his roster spot until someone takes it.

The trying to take it crowd are the very uninspiring collection of Henry Thrun, Phil Myers, and that's the end of my list. In theory Matt Benning and Dakota Mermis might be on there, but I don't buy that as plausible. I don't think it matters which of Thrun or Myers makes the cut, and the reason might be who the Leafs think will clear waivers, not who is better.

All About Forwards

This camp is only about forwards. There are 14 currently signed forwards who are regular rostered NHLers. I expect the Leafs to add to that with both Max Pacioretty and Jack Roslovic on PTOs. Then you add in Easton Cowan, the only other player in serious consideration, and you've got a potential for 17 players.

Obviously, the Leafs want to trade some of these guys, and waiting is the smart move. The Leafs themselves may have injuries and need to hang onto someone. Other teams will have injuries and suddenly want to deal much more seriously.

There is a perception that with the departure of Mitch Marner there is a big question about the two extra top-six winger jobs. I don't think there is, really, much doubt about this. Matias Maccelli and Max Domi are 1a and 1b for those jobs until someone takes them away from them.

Like Benoit, Bobby McMann had a very poor year, and the coach knows it, and will be looking for some iron-clad proof he's up to more than a third-line job. Dakota Joshua also had a bad year coming off of cancer treatment. But he's always had the classic profile of a serious third-liner, so I expect him to be slotted in there.

I liked Jacob Quillan and Luke Haymes at the prospect tournament, and they will likely show well in preseason games, but they aren't staying. Nic Roy and Scott Laughton are likely to be the three and four centres unless, wait for it, someone takes that job away from them convincingly.

If Roslovic and Pacioretty are on PTOs, the real question becomes the makeup of the third line, what its purpose is, and who can best serve that purpose. No more junk drawer line. I don't think Cowan is going to convincingly take a job on that line at this time, and as always, part of the reason is waivers. Don't hassle me with cries of how unfair it is, this isn't prospect camp, it's time to build a team, and that means not watching your useful extras disappear on waivers. There's a long season ahead. That said, watching Cowan will be the highlight of preseason for me.

I also do not believe that Craig Berube is at all interested in ever playing Max Domi as a 3C again, and Brad Treliving's acquisitions this summer bear that out. So the big question to be answered for me is not about the bottom six, it's this: If Maccelli and Domi aren't good enough in the top six, then what? Over to you, Brad, because you might need to renovate this forward corps a little sooner than planned in a more meaningful way than trading David Kämpf and Nick Robertson.

Let's see who plays in the early preseason games in a role designed to show off their talents to other teams.

Remember last year at this time when we were all sure – fans, media, the team – that Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev were a natural pairing, a match made for the ages. You never know for sure until you try it, so on to the trying, and we'll see how it works. out.

Training Camp